Welcome to DBZ Love Garden

Zoom in to shot of Master Roshi, reading in chair by the beach.

Ahem.

Master Roshi?

Oh, hi there! Sorry about that! (he says as he stashes a porn magazine under the chair) I was just, ehm, researching a new martial arts technique!

… Do you mind?…

Oh, yes, of course, of course… Now where did I put that?… (rummages through huge stack of porn beside him, pulling out the script) Found it! Yes, ok, here we go…

Master Roshi: Today our tale centers not necessarily around a place in time, but travelers through it. Two young men, one poor, one rich, trying to make their way as best they can. Will the push fate gives them be enough? Find out now, in the Dragonball Zone…

Gohan was woken by a blur of spiky hair jumping up and down on him.

“Gohan! Gohan! Get up! It’s morning!” Goten shouted as he bobbed up and down excitedly.

“Alright, alright already, I’m up!” Gohan couldn’t help but smile at his little brother’s enthusiasm, even though he’d had five hours’ sleep max. He had been up late finishing a paper that was due Monday. Yes, he did homework on Friday nights – that left him the whole weekend to spend with family and friends. Like now for instance, he could spend the whole day with Goten, worry free (mostly), since all his work was done. He hated having to tell the boy no, that he was too busy for him; he got that enough already.

“Have you eaten yet?” Gohan asked as he ruffled the boys’ hair, then pulled on a pair of jeans and headed for the bathroom.

“Just a box of cereal and some bananas and a couple pieces of toast and a jar of pickles and a box of breakfast bars… When are you going to make breakfast?”

A jar of pickles? Gohan though to himself… where was Mom?

“How long have you been awake sport?” he asked instead.

“Oh, about an hour, I already called over to CC, Trunks will be here
with Trunks soon, so hurry Gohan!” Goten shouted as he raced out of the room again.

Gohan let his negative thoughts race around in his head while he quickly brushed his teeth, then he spit them out with the toothpaste and went to start the new day.

“Our Trunks’ are here!” Goten shouted in the middle of devouring his eggs, feeling their ki getting close.

“I know, they’re almost here, hurry up and finish your eggs so we can go!” Gohan used his brother’s own excitement to cover the fact that they really couldn’t afford to offer anything to their approaching guests if they arrived in the middle of the meal… Gohan inhaled the rest of his eggs as quickly as Goten, making it a race that he just barely managed to win. Goten pretended to pout in defeat until Trunks’ pert knocking sounded on the door. Gohan quickly cleared the dishes as Goten let them in.

“Hi Goten!”

“Hi Trunks!” The two younger boys still greeted each other with a hug.

“Hey Gohan” Trunks said with a nod and a smile.

“Hey Trunks” Gohan smiled back. Trunks having come back to their time was still a little new, but a welcome adjustment. Kid Trunks had been skeptical of him at first, but it was actually his father’s pretty much indifferent attitude toward Mirai that let him accept him… No one wants to feel like they are being replaced by a better version of themselves. Gohan wasn’t sure Vegeta was “aware” enough to get credit for having done it on purpose, but at least it had all worked out.

“You guys ready? We should probably get an early start if we don’t want all the good stuff to be taken” Mirai said seriously.

“Yeah, let’s go!” the boys shouted in unison, making their “older
brothers” laugh.

It had actually been Mirai Trunks that had suggested yard sales to Gohan. He had been able to see straight off the bat how Gohan worried for Goten with everything that was going on at home. He remembered his mom taking him to things like that as a young boy, especially since most trade was done that way in their time anyhow. In this time it was a cheap way to get toys and games for Goten that Gohan wouldn’t have been able to afford otherwise. Plus when Gohan wasn’t looking, he would slip each of the boys a 5 or 10, letting them get whatever they wanted at that sale – and once Goten had picked something out and had his little heart set on it, Gohan could never say no – it was the only way he could get him to accept any kind of help from him.

“I’ll lock up behind us” Gohan said, herding them all out ahead of him.

The boys took to the air immediately in excitement; they would all fly to the nearest city before landing to walk the streets looking for yard sale signs.

Mirai waited on the front steps with Gohan as he locked the door.

“She’s gone already, so early?” he said softly, wary of little super saiyan ears.

“That would imply that she’d been back last night” Gohan replied in a tired whisper.

“And your Dad? What did he do?”

“He’s not going to do anything about something he doesn’t see – he’d have to be around to notice that she wasn’t” Gohan said a bit bitterly.

Mirai squeezed his shoulder.

“You guys should come spend the night tonight – mom has been complaining that she never gets to see you anymore with your crazy workload at the university” Mirai offered.

“That might be nice actually – Goten would love it, and I do have plans to meet Videl on Sunday in West City, so being there already would cut down on my travel time a lot” Gohan replied.

“Good, it’s settled then” Trunks smiled. He didn’t really care for Videl, but if she made Gohan happy, then he was happy for him. He just couldn’t help but draw more than a few similarities between her and Chichi – but he didn’t think it was his place to say anything yet, having only been here for a month.

“Come on you guys! What’s the hold up?” Trunks and Goten shouted back to them. They took off flying from the porch, catching up quickly.

“I was just inviting you and Gohan to spend the night tonight, that’s all”
Mirai said casually.

“OH, CAN WE? CAN WE?” Goten squealed loudly.

“Easy sport, I already said yes” Gohan rubbed his ears and laughed.

“Awesome!” Trunks high five’d Goten.

“Thanks Gohan! Thanks Gohan’s Trunks!” Goten said as the two boys
flew ahead and did aerial cartwheels of excitement.

Mirai chuckled.

“I’m still trying to get him to stop saying it like that” Gohan said as he rolled his eyes.

“It’s ok, I don’t mind – it was probably just the easiest way for him to differentiate us in his head, so it stuck” Mirai dismissed it as they flew on.

They had made out like desert bandits most of the morning; it helped that Goten was completely adorable. Though there was one lady at the last yard sale who had been trying to give Gohan anything he wanted for free, including her number. He had blushed and politely refused, but she told him to keep the box of odd knick knacks anyway. He didn’t really want them after that, but was too embarrassed to argue and just walked away quickly.

Mirai carried their haul in a storage capsule, and treated them to lunch after they were done. Gohan was so flustered from his ‘encounter’ that he agreed to it without much fuss. For once. When they got back to Mt. Paozu, the boys wanted to go through all their new stuff right away, but Gohan told them they had to wait until they got to CC. Goten packed in record time. There was still no sign of either of their parents. Gohan could feel where his Dad’s ki was, training up a storm without a care in the world, but his mom was too weak to sense accurately. He decided to brush his teeth again, from lunch, before they left.

Watching the boys go through the pile of newly acquired treasures was entertaining, to say the least. Apparently there was a large set of horribly ugly figurines that Trunks had got just to use for target practice, so the festivities were soon taken outside. Mirai took the opportunity to sort through Gohan’s box of “free” stuff, since he obviously wasn’t going to do it himself.

“Oh man, just leave it” Gohan said, “you should be working on jimmying the lock on that weird chest you got for your mom anyway.”

“It’ll keep” Mirai said with a laugh, pulling out an huge antique looking camera from the box.

“This looks interesting, it’s got to be a camera of some kind, but look, there’s no way to open it…” Mirai mused as he turned it over “how would you get the film in and out?”

“Here, let me see it” Gohan took it from him, examining it closely.
“Hmm, you’re right, that’s really strange – maybe it’s a fake that’s meant to be decorative?” he said as he handed it back.

Trunks pressed the shutter button absently, and the camera gave a click, whirring internally. Gohan raised an eyebrow as the edge of a photo appeared out of the small slit beneath the lens. Curious, Mirai pulled it out of the camera, and Gohan leaned over to see it as well. The focus of the photo was an off-angle shot of the chest beside him, only instead of sitting there locked, it was smashed to pieces.

“What?” They both said in unison under their breath. Gohan turned to look at the chest, and it was fine…

“That’s kind of freaky…” he said.

“Yeah” Mirai agreed with a frown. How could a camera take a picture of something that wasn’t real or hadn’t … hadn’t happened. Yet. His mind filed in the blanks even though he wasn’t sure he wanted it to. That couldn’t possibly be it, he thought. They were interrupted by the boys coming back in; they had made short work of the figurines. Mirai folded up the photo and put it in his pocket. Gohan got distracted himself, and forgot to think about it anymore – until breakfast the next morning. Bulma’s mother was an infinitely better cook that he was, and loved any excuse to show off her talents, so he slept in knowing Goten would be taken care of.

Then a large crash woke him from his blissful slumber. He could feel that both of the boys were super saiyans, down stairs in the living room, and could feel Mirai heading toward them from the room next to him. He sat up lazily, knowing if he got too much sleep, he’d be groggy all day anyway. Might as well go see what the little brats were up to this time. He didn’t bother getting dressed yet, and walked out into the hall with just his red pajama pants on. He powered up a little as he yelled down the stairs, “You two better not have broken anything expensive!”.

“Define expensive” came Trunks’ reply. Gohan groaned as he loped down the stairs. Mirai was already there when he turned the corner. Gohan went to asses the damage, and discovered that it was the chest from yesterday, broken to bits. The picture immediately jumped back into his mind, and he just stood there staring in disbelief. The boys were talking a mile a minute about how the incident that had occurred was actually neither of their faults, when Gohan caught movement out of the corner of his eye. Mirai had returned with the picture in hand and was frowning at it. The boys eventually died down when they didn’t get any reaction at all from them. After a few moments of standing there in silence, Trunks ventured to break it.

“So… is it ok if we go play outside now?” he asked. Gohan frowned, but then nodded his head. The boys high-tailed it out of there as quick as they could, not believing their good fortune at escaping one of Gohan’s lectures.

“I think there is something special about this camera” Mirai said once they had left the room.

“It must be a coincidence” Gohan replied.

“Ok, but even if the picture then, matching the chest now, is a coincidence, why would it take a picture like that in the first place?” Mirai countered. Gohan had no response to that.

“Well, maybe we should test it” was all he could think of…

“Yes, definitely.”

“This is crazy” Gohan said as he rubbed the sleep and disbelief from his eyes.

“The future is a crazy place sometimes” Mirai said softly.

“You don’t really think it takes pictures of the future, do you?” Gohan asked. Mirai turned to him and placed his hand on his shoulder seriously, but when Gohan looked up, his eyes were laughing at him.

“You’ve lead a very sheltered life, haven’t you?” Mirai teased.

“Ok, fine, I get your point. I guess with everything we’ve seen, a device that takes pictures of the future doesn’t seem so out there… But I’m still skeptical” Gohan relented slightly.

“What kind of test were you thinking of?” Mirai asked.

“I don’t know… We need to find something that it would be impossible for anyone to know the outcome of ahead of time” he mused.

“Like a competition.”

“Yes, exactly. But the World Martial Arts Tournament isn’t for another year…” Gohan replied. Mirai laughed at him again.

“There are plenty of other ‘competitions’ going on every day, I’m sure we could find something happening this afternoon.”

“Well, I have plans with Videl this afternoon…” Gohan reminded him.

“She won’t mind, just this once, will she?” Mirai asked.

“I don’t know, she can be pretty stubborn sometimes” Gohan said with a laugh.

“More than just sometimes, if you ask me” Mirai decided to push a little.

“Yeah, I guess so, but it’s just part of who she is, she’s a very passionate person.”

“I see” Mirai let it go at that, “well, I guess there’s no rush, we’ll figure it out eventually. We could try for next weekend, and I’ll use that time to try and decipher this writing on the side of it.”

“It looks like French” Gohan offered.

“Do you understand it?”

“No, Mom made me take Latin.”

The next weekend Gohan made sure to keep Sunday open to test their theory. Videl was less than thrilled. She had complained sadly at first, and then when that didn’t work, she bitched at him for a half an hour. Gohan had already given Mirai his word though, so he wouldn’t back down. After she had gone, the house seemed almost too quiet. Gohan went to go check on Goten. He was in their room, looking at a comic book on the bed.

“Hey sport, whatcha doing?” Gohan asked cheerfully.

“Nothing, why do you guys fight so much?” Goten asked him.

“We don’t fight that often, it’s just this time, I promise” Gohan replied.

“No, you fight a lot” he said matter-of-factly, “she always yells at you, you just normally give in and do whatever she wants. Why do you do that? I wouldn’t let Trunks yell at me like that… You know what I’d do? I’d punch him in the face.”

“I’m not going to punch Videl, and we don’t really fight that much sport…” Gohan felt slightly defensive. Goten didn’t respond right away, but when he did, Gohan’s defensiveness was shattered.

“At least you don’t run away after like Dad does.”

Silence.

Gohan’s head was churning, unable to fully make sense of all the emotions that one sentence sent spinning through him. He sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled Goten into a hug.

“I didn’t mean to make you sad Gohan” Goten said as he felt tears falling on him.

“It’s not you, you haven’t done anything wrong Goten – it’s just sometimes, I wish things were different, that’s all.”

“You don’t have to put up with it you know” Goten said, still hugging him tightly.

“What?”

“You could get a different girlfriend, one who is nicer – or not even have one at all, that’s ok too” Goten informed him seriously. Gohan hoped that the fact that he had missed the point meant Goten was not a jaded as he had become when it involved their parents.

“Ok, enough about this for now – I think it’s almost time for dinner” Gohan replied, using a tried and true distraction to change the subject. Goten was getting more and more perceptive, but thankfully at 9 he was still pretty innocent as well.

When next Sunday rolled around, Mirai had devised a way to test their little theory. He showed Gohan the spot in the paper where they printed the various sports news for West City, and circled the racing section. Gohan frowned. A horse race? That didn’t seem like the sort of place Goten should be hanging out at, his Mom would probably … not even know – or care if she did these days.

“Ok” Gohan said, feeling a little rebellious.

“Good, I got Gram & Gramps to watch the boys while we’re gone – which means they’ll be totally cracked out on sugar by the time we get back, so we better enjoy it while we can” Mirai grinned.

“Even better” Gohan replied.

The track was crowded and noisy, but there was a definite air of excitement around. Mirai and Gohan strolled over to the board displaying the previous winners, and he casually took a picture of Gohan standing in front of it. When they looked at the photo, the board displayed a different set of names, and there was no Gohan in the shot.

Mirai let out a deep breath, handing the photo to Gohan.

“Well, let’s go find out if there’s such a thing as fate” he said motioning him over to the line.

“What are you doing?” Gohan asked.

“We’re going to bet on that horse, obviously” Mirai replied.

“But the stats show that ‘Bonnie Blue’ has never even placed before – this is silly” Gohan said.

“Come on, Gohan, I thought we were going to do this together – besides, it will be more fun if we both win something.”

“Ok, fine, but I’m only betting a couple bucks on this.”

When they got up to the window, Mirai placed 20 on Bonnie Blue to win, at 1 to 65 odds. Gohan only had a 5 and a 20 on him, and was wondering if it would be weird to ask the bookie for change to place a 2 dollar bet, when Mirai snatched the 20 out of his wallet and placed it on the counter for him. Gohan started to protest, but Mirai stopped him.
“Hey, trust me ok, I’ve got a feeling about this.”

Gohan began to shake his head, but Mirai continued, “Look, I’ll make you a ‘personal’ wager as well; if the horse loses when I made you do this, I’ll buy you enough groceries to feed Goten for a week, ok?”
“And what if the horse wins? What do I owe you then?” Gohan asked skeptically.

“You can owe me a favor, to be determined…” Mirai smiled. Gohan rolled his eyes, but placed the bet.

“20 on Bonnie Blue to win” Mirai didn’t know they were down to eating wild game he caught on the flight home from school, and hadn’t seen either of his parents for over 3 days. It was common for his Dad to be gone for a week at a time training, and now his Mom’s drinking was quickly heading that way as well.

Thirteen hundred dollars was more cash than he had ever held in his hands at once before. He felt light headed. Mirai kept asking him if he was ok every few minutes. He must have looked pretty pale to worry him. When his head began to clear, he picked up the camera, turning it over several times in his examination, then set it back down on the table they were at and stared into the distance.

“I want to do it again – for Goten” he said after a moment.

“I mean, I’m fine, I can take care of myself,” he continued, “but Goten’s still so young… I can’t… I can’t take care of him like he should be, I think this is going to be my last year of college if something doesn’t change soon.”

“You didn’t tell me things were that bad Gohan,” Mirai scolded him, “You’ve got a full scholarship, you can’t just drop out, I won’t let you do that.”

“I can’t just abandon him either, he’s my brother.”

“You could ask for help” Mirai said gently.

“No, Dad doesn’t get it, he thinks everything will just ‘work out’ eventually, that it’s just a faze Mom’s going through. I’ve tried to talk to him about it, but he won’t take it seriously; he just takes off to go train anyway – which is exactly why she started drinking in the first place, so I guess it shouldn’t surprise me.” That last part sounded particularly bitter.

“That’s why I want to do this again, not for personal gain, just so I can keep things up for him for as long as possible. Maybe even do something special, you know, give him a good memory to help counteract all the bad ones” he added.

“Ok, here. Take this then, and don’t argue – it’s put to much better use for Goten, and I don’t need it” Mirai said, handing him the wad of cash from his own winnings. Gohan accepted it hesitantly, with moisture threatening his cheeks, then thanked the other man sincerely. They switched roles this time, with Gohan snapping the picture, and then placed their bet on lucky number 5; who’s odds were 1 to 73.

One hundred eighty-nine thousand, eight hundred dollars would not fit in Gohan’s wallet.

“Ok, no more betting with this thing, we don’t want to develop a problem” Gohan joked when they got back home with the sack of money.

“I think we’ll be ok, we did it for the right reasons – I am kind of wondering what other uses we could put it to though” Mirai wondered out loud. His thoughts were interrupted by two very hyper boys chasing/ wrestling with each other through the room, yelling at the top of their lungs.

“Hey hey hey, settle down there guys, Goten, it’s time for us to go home anyway” Gohan called into the fray. After several disappointed complaints, they finally extracted the boys from each other, and headed out.

When they got home, Chichi was passed out unconscious on the kitchen floor.

“Go to your room Goten, I’ll take care of her” he said quickly.

“Are you sure? I could help you” Goten offered.

“No, it’s ok sport, just go on.”

He walked over and pried the spilled bottle of vodka out of her hand, checking her pulse, then slung her over his shoulder. He didn’t even want to know how long it had been since the last time she had showered. He laid her in her bed, then locked the door behind him as he left – no need for Goten to see anymore than he had too. There was very little chance they would see her before she sobered up long enough to take off again anyway. He wasn’t even sure why she came back anymore.

The next morning, her door was still locked when they left for their respective schools. When they got home later that afternoon, it was open and the house was empty again. Goten reached over and grabbed onto the hem of his brothers’ shirt, preventing him from moving around without him. Gohan sighed and rubbed the boys’ head. It was harder to do pretty much anything with Goten in ‘shadow’ mode, but it usually didn’t last for more than a few hours. He would just deal with it – he had to, for Gotens’ sake.

At least now he knew they would be able to survive off the winnings he and Mirai had come away with for quite a while. He would keep his job at the University library of course, that would enable him to stretch out the money through the rest of his college career, and possibly beyond. Once he graduated he would be able to get a real job and that would solve so many issues, but for now they played the waiting game. Wait for Gohan to finish school, wait for Goten to get a little older, wait for anyone else to give a shit… Well, Mirai cared – he was the only one who bothered to get involved. Not that Gohan wanted other people involved though. Mirai was turning out to be just the right amount of support, actually. He didn’t want charity, and certainly nothing for himself – Goten was all that mattered, and he thought Mirai understood that. He was probably the one person aside from Piccolo that he would be comfortable turning to if things got really bad.

“Hey sport, you know what? I think we should go out to eat tonight” Gohan said cheerfully.

“You mean to a restaurant?” Goten hesitantly asked.

“Yep, anywhere you want kid, just pick the place”

“Where did you get the money for that?” Goten asked him. Damn that perception, how old was he again?…

“Well, I recently came into a bit of money, it’s ok, really, wherever you want to go” Gohan dodged the question. Goten looked at him curiously for a second, then picked pizza.

The next weekend, after they checked the yard sales in West City out of habit, then went back to Capsule Corp to hang out for the rest of the afternoon.

“I figured out what the writing says” Mirai offered once they had a moment to themselves.

“Oh really? That’s awesome, what does it mean?” Gohan’s interest was piqued.

“It says, ‘7 only per owner’ and it is French, you were right.”

“Only 7 photos? Well, we already used 3, so I guess we could take turns with the rest of them, we would get 2 more each…” Gohan mused.

“Yeah, sure. That would work.” Mirai answered as lunch was announced. He didn’t say anything more about it until after they were done.

“I have an idea,” Mirai started, “sort of like another test, just to see what would happen; it can count for one of ‘my’ photos.”

“Ok, sure.”

“Well, I was wondering what would happen if we took a picture of ourselves in between two mirrors. The other photos have all been fixated around that ‘place’ in time, I wonder if we did it that way, if it would show ‘us’ wherever we are in the future…” Trunks explained.

“That’s a pretty good idea Trunks, I didn’t think of it like that…” Gohan was impressed. They were able to find a couple of mirrors that were big enough in Bulma’s closet – both double doors were lined with them.

“Perfect” Mirai said. They lined them up and smiled for the camera, right as Bulma came into her room.

“Um, what are you boys doing?” she said with a slightly accusing tone.

Trunks pulled the photo out of the camera as he spoke.

“Well, apparently we’re going to a party” Mirai said, dismissing her tone.

“And why do you need to get into my closet for that?”

“We were just borrowing your mirrors, that’s all” Mirai kissed her on the cheek as they left.

“So, get invited to any parties that would be taking place soon?” Mirai inquired of Gohan with a smile.

“Actually, yeah, I’m pretty sure I know who’s party that would be – you don’t really think we should go do you?” Gohan replied.

“Of course, look what happened with the other photos, they all turned out great.”

“I don’t know… I didn’t plan on going because Videl won’t, she doesn’t like the girl who’s throwing it, plus there’s Goten.”

“Goten can spend the night here, he’ll be fine; ecstatic even.”

“Do you really think ‘fate’ is telling us to go to that party?” Gohan asked.

“Would it be so crazy if fate was telling you that you need to have some fun once in awhile?” Trunks teased him.

“Alright, alright, we’ll go then” Gohan gave in. Maybe it would be fun to just hang out and have a good time with friends his own age. He knew plenty of people at college, he just rarely got to do anything outside of study with them.

“Hey Cindy, I hope it’s ok I brought a friend!” Gohan shouted over the music. Cindy didn’t mind, especially when she saw his friend. The music was really too loud in this part of the house to be talking, so she just licked her lips as she openly looked him up and down. Mirai rolled his eyes and raised an eyebrow at her. She just laughed and motioned them farther in.

“So, no Videl tonight?” she said as they cleared the deafening threshold.

“No.”

“Oh really, why is that?” Cindy asked with a laugh, “Did you guys break up?”

“I don’t know, it’s kind of a long story” Gohan replied with a sigh.
“What?!? Do not tell me you are finally single, Son Gohan, and decided to show up at my party for your first taste of freedom…” Cindy stopped him with a hand on his chest.

“I wouldn’t say ‘single’… though, I’m not really sure actually – see Videl threatened to break up with me if I came to this party without her, and she refused to come, but Trunks’ here really wanted to go… I told her we were going to go, and then she hung up on me, so I don’t really know if we’re together or not…” Gohan explained.

“You shouldn’t worry about it Gohan” Mirai squeezed his shoulder reassuringly.

“Yeah, your gorgeous friend here is absolutely right – here, have a drink and don’t think another thought about it” Cindy said with authority.

“Maybe just a couple, I don’t want to over do it” Gohan said as he accepted the bright red cup. Cindy handed one with a wink to Mirai as well. Thankfully, she was pulled into another section of the party by one of her friends, so they were left alone for a minute.

“I’ve never drank before” Gohan admitted to Mirai.

“Me neither” he confided, “Mom ran a dry ship, in my time. The one here is much more laid back, understandably, but it just hasn’t really come up” he said, taking a sip of his drink.

“Well, what do you think?” Gohan asked.

“It tastes fine, really fruity – cheers!” he said holding up his cup.

Several hours later, the dance floor was calling Gohan’s name. The party was in full swing, and the place was absolutely packed. He and Mirai found themselves with a pair of random girls, trying to make their way onto the floor through the insane mash of people. Gohan lead the way, holding random girl #1’s hand, who was holding Mirai’s hand, who was holding on to random girl #2 as they snaked their way across the room. The music pumped loudly around them and the alcohol pumped loudly through them as they danced. After 3 or 4 songs, they had lost track of random girls 1 & 2 in the press of bodies. Gohan leaned over, getting close enough that he could put his mouth right next to Mirai’s ear.

“I’m glad we came” he whispered as he leaned against him, knowing Mirai’s half-saiyan hearing would be able to pick it out from the other noise around them. He saw his head nod, and caught his smile out of the corner of his eye. Gohan kissed him on the cheek in gratitude. Then Mirai’s head turned toward him and they both found themselves in the middle of a deep, unrestrained kiss. Gohan wasn’t really sure who had started it, all of a sudden it was just happening, but it was amazing to feel Mirai’s arms wrapped around him. He put his arms around the other man’s waist as their tongues caressed inside their combined mouth. As the song ended, they pulled back from each other, grinning widely.

The rest of the night was a blur to Gohan. It was like nothing else mattered after that kiss, and his brain knew it. Unfortunately for his brain, the night did have to end though. When he woke up the next day, he found reality quite a bit more jarring than he had before. He and Trunks had kissed. Full on, no mistake, let me see your tonsils, kissed. This was not supposed to happen. What if Videl found out? Did he really care anymore if she did? What about Trunks, how did he feel? He had so many thoughts running around, chasing bits and pieces of emotions in his head, he was beginning to feel a pounding forming behind his eyes. He wasn’t sure if it was the hangover or the stress at first, but decided on hangover when opening his eyes brought physical pain to his retinas.

Lunch was awkward. They had slept right through breakfast, so Gohan was starving by the time he was finally able to pull himself out of bed. He vowed to never consume alcohol again in the silence that sat between them. As the day wore on, it only got worse, until Gohan could barely look in Mirai’s direction by the time they left. He practically ran away from Capsule Corp… But why? Maybe he just needed a few days to process this, then he would be able to deal with it better.

It had now been four weeks since they found that blasted camera. When Mirai came over with Trunks the next weekend, he acted like nothing had happened. It both relieved him and pissed him off. He decided to act as normal as possible too, for the boys’ sake… but inside he felt, what, rejected? Did that mean he had real feelings for him? Several times throughout the day, Gohan would have to stop what he was doing and shake his head to clear the thoughts of Mirai that kept popping up there. Goten could tell he was distracted, but obviously had no clue as to the real reason why, and Mirai kept silent as well.

Finally, Gohan couldn’t take the turmoil anymore. The camera. The camera had started this, maybe it would have some insight into the end of it as well. He cornered / surprised Mirai in his room when they were at Capsule Corp later that day, snapping a photo of him sitting on his bed quickly before he had a chance to react.

“Say cheese” he said after the fact, pulling the photo out so that only he could see it.

“What are you doing?” Mirai demanded, slightly ticked off by Gohan’s impulsiveness. Gohan studied the picture for a moment, then threw it down on the bed next to Mirai, sitting down on the edge himself.

“Apparently breaking up with Videl” he said flatly. Mirai picked up the photo. It was this spot on his bed, at some point in the near future, and on it he was making out with Gohan rather intensely. He looked up directly into Gohan’s eyes, and was met with a blush. So he did like it.

“So you did like it” Mirai stated out loud. Gohan traced the edge of the photo in Mirai’s hand as it rested against the bed, blushing even deeper.

“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t… But what does it mean?” he worried.

“Mean? What do you mean ‘what does it mean?’” Mirai questioned him.

“Gahh, you know what I mean Trunks” Gohan said, getting flustered.

“Actually, I’m afraid I don’t” he replied. Gohan turned to look him in the eye again, sometimes with Mirai, you never knew if he was being serious, or making light of something, until you looked in his eyes. He was laughing at him.

“Damn it” Gohan said, a grin cracking his own face, “I’m trying to be serious here.”

“Ok, I’m sorry… Would it help if I told you I liked it too?” Mirai settled down.

“Yes and no.”

“Why?”

“Why yes, or why no?” Gohan asked him.

Mirai paused for a moment, setting the picture aside, “Why no?”

“I don’t know for sure, maybe because I feel a little bad that things were unresolved with Videl when this happened? Also, you know, you’re a guy… That’s not exactly what I pictured for myself, or what anyone else would either, I think. What would Goten say, how would I explain that to him?”

“I don’t think you should worry about Goten like that, at this point. You do have a certain amount of responsibility to him as a brother, but not in this, who you love is a strictly personal matter, Gohan” Mirai said as Gohan blushed again, “Besides, Mom caught him and mini-me kissing in the Gravity Room a few weeks ago, so I don’t think he’ll take much convincing to make him understand.” Gohan’s jaw dropped to the floor.
“Kissing! In the Gravity Room?!? He’s only 9!!!” he started immediately.

“Whoa, whoa, settle down for a minute, ok? It was completely innocent. I saw it happen myself the other day. They weren’t ‘making out’ or anything, it was just like it was the normal way to say ‘goodbye’ to someone for them, it was actually kind of sweet. I didn’t say anything because, well, ‘this’ had already happened between us when I saw it, and apparently Mom had been hesitant to mention it and freak us out too… She was just going to have a talk with them herself, she only told me because I brought it up first. I think we’re going to have to tread very lightly there… especially if we are going to be doing ‘this’ here” Mirai let his words hang in the air for a moment. Gohan shook his head in disbelief.

“Is she still going to talk to them?” he asked.

“Yeah, I thought she was right, that it would be better that way” Mirai affirmed. Gohan stood.

“I think I need a minute to think about all this” he said. Mirai nodded, watching him walk out of the room. The “minute” Gohan needed could stretch on who knew how long, but it was understandable. He wouldn’t mind the chance to sort through a few things himself, knowing now how Gohan felt about all this too. Mirai tucked the most recent photo into a book on his bedside table, and wondered how far into the future it would be exactly, before he and Gohan gave in to fate…

Gohan had just sat down, hiding in one of the guest rooms, ready to give everything a good long thinking through, when Goten peeked through the door.

“Hey Gohan, can I talk to you for a minute while you’re alone?” he sounded nervous.

“Sure, of course” he answered, “what’s going on?” Goten shut the door behind him, and sat on the edge of the bed a few feet from him.

“Um, Gohan, do you think it’s wrong to kiss another boy?” Oh. My. God. … He was not ready to be having this conversation. Shit. He hadn’t even had sex himself; he was sooooo not the one to be explaining these things to him… Mostly because he hadn’t really worked them out yet either…

“Well, that depends…” he stalled.

“On what?” Goten asked right away.

“Well, I guess on if you really love them or not, and your age” Gohan voiced his own concerns.

“Oh… but that would be the same if it was a girl too though, right?” Goten continued.

“Basically, yeah.”

“So it’s not wrong, for being a boy?”

“No, it’s not wrong” Gohan said with finality.

“Bulma said that it’s not really normal, but some people are ok with it, when you’re older…” Goten added.

Was that the best she could come up with? Gohan thought. Although, he wasn’t really one to talk, he was having a hard time of it too.

“Who you choose to love is no one else’s business Goten, but Bulma’s right, you do need to be older to start doing stuff like that” Gohan borrowed the only way he could think of to describe it properly.

“So, how old do you think I need to be?” he asked.

“Well, I’d say at least a teenager, 13, to be kissing, older for anything more than that” Gohan thought out loud.

“What’s more than that?”

“Nothing. Well, not nothing, just… Nothing you need to worry about right now, ok? I’ll tell you more about it when you get older”

“Oh, you mean like sex?” Goten asked, “Can two boys have sex? I thought you had to have a girl for that…”

“Uh, well, as far as I know it’s possible, but I– How do you even know about sex?!?” Gohan said, startled.

“Vegeta told Trunks, and Trunks told me” Goten replied.

Oh dear God… he should have suspected Trunks would be told soon, it just wasn’t something he ever thought about, keeping track of the boys’ “milestones” on his own…

“Oh, ok” was all he managed to say at first.

“You know that’s only for adults, right?” he followed up with a moment later.

“Yeah, I know.”

“Ok, as long as we’re clear on that…” Gohan was interrupted by Trunks bursting into the room, looking for Goten.

“Goten! It’s starting to rain!” Trunks said excitedly.

“Yeah! Alright, let go!” Goten replied, bounding off the bed. Demi-Saiyans were some of the only children who could have an all-out mud throwing fight without their parents worrying they would lose an eye. Gohan sighed in relief as the two raced out the door, at least that conversation was over now. He thought about beginning his own ‘journey’ now, when he realized that somewhere in the talk with Goten, he had already made up his mind.

Mirai was surprised to see Gohan back in his room so soon, and even more surprised when he pushed him over backwards and kissed him against the bed. He wrapped his arms around that chiseled frame, thoroughly enjoying Gohan’s exploration of his mouth. When Gohan finally broke the kiss, he didn’t say anything, just rested his head in the crook of Mirai’s neck and shoulder, sighing deeply. Mirai rolled them over, and looked down into Gohan’s eyes from above.

“That was fast” he said with a smirk.

“You’re an easy decision to make” Gohan answered sincerely. The smirk changed into just a regular smile as Mirai’s eyes danced, and Gohan fell in love. Mirai leaned down, capturing their mouths together again, falling hard himself. He let his hands roam a little, feeling rock hard abs and perfect pecs quiver under his touch. He was so turned on it was unbelievable.

Bulma couldn’t believe it either as she passed by the hall, though she was beginning to think she should have suspected. She opened her mouth to say something, but instead just pulled the door closed – they were both adults.

The click made them both jump. Mirai turned to see who it was, but was faced with a closed door. Gohan sat up as well, looking rather nervous.

“I think I forgot to close the door behind me” he said apologetically with his hand on the back of his neck. Mirai just gave him a look and sighed, standing up. He crossed to the door and pulled it open, looking out into the hallway, but found it empty.

“Well, it was either Mom or Gramps – anyone else would have said something instead of just shutting it.”

“Oh, great…”

“At least it wasn’t Dad, or the boys – that’s not one I’m really ready to explain yet either” Mirai confessed.

“Did you know they knew about sex already?” Gohan questioned him.

“What?!? No, how did they find that out?”

“Goten told me that Vegeta’s already had ‘the talk’ with Trunks, and of course, he told Goten everything afterward…”

“And when did you find that out?” Mirai asked.

“Just a few minutes ago when Goten was asking me if it’s ok to kiss boys – oh yeah, I’m serious” Gohan added at the look on Mirai’s face.

After a moment, he began laughing to himself.

“What’s so funny?” Gohan asked him.


“It’s just, I feel kind of sorry for Mom now… If she wants the Capsule Corp dynasty to continue, she’s going to have to pop out another kid pretty quick here, and hope it’s not like me…”

Gohan’s eyes widened a little as a grin broke out over his face as well, imagining how pissed she would be at ‘having’ to ‘ruin’ her figure again…

“Oh man, if you guys want to come stay with us for awhile, let me know” he laughed.

They had practiced their “making out with another man” skills for the rest of that weekend, and by the time the next one came around, they were both tired of phone calls and ki searching.

“Hey Trunks.”

“Hey Gohan.”

They could not be done with the yard sales quick enough. They ended up calling it quits earlier than usual, telling the boys they could have whatever they wanted from the last one to make up for it. That lady was very happy when they left. Once back at Capsule Corp, Mirai popped the storage capsule behind him as he headed up the stairs, dragging Gohan with him and telling the boys they needed to “talk” for a minute while they went through their stuff. Unless a groan counted as “talking,” then that was a complete lie, because it was the only sound Gohan made when he was pushed up against the wall just inside Mirai’s room. No words passed between them as they molested each others’ mouths, though Gohan did groan again when Mirai began nipping his way down the younger man’s neck.

A knock on the door broke their concentration all too soon. Mirai stepped back from him, and noticed they were both shirtless – when had that happened? He answered the door anyway; they were both guys, it wasn’t like they were indecent or anything. Mirai’s grandmother told them lunch was ready, vaguely hitting on her grandson as she did it… they found their shirts and headed back downstairs with a sigh.

“I’ve been thinking,” Mirai started after lunch, “that we should try taking another shot with the mirrors again.”

“You don’t think we should save the last ones’ for a rainy day or something?” Gohan asked him.

“I don’t think they show anything far enough in the future to really be of use for that, besides, if something that horrible did happen, we have a time machine” Mirai countered.

“Yeah, that’s true” Gohan agreed, “but why do you want to do another one right now?”

“I just like seeing you squirm” Mirai said with a laughing purr,“honestly, it’s probably just going to show us making out again.”

Gohan blushed, but not as badly as the first time. A small mischievous smile curled on his lips… he wondered if he could affect the outcome of the picture by planning to do a specific thing in his head now…

“Sure, you’re on” he said with a laugh.

“Ok, let’s go” Mirai said.

They pulled open Bulma’s closet and set the doors to reflect inward on each other again, then pushed the button. Gohan glanced a peek at the photo as Mirai pulled it out, but mostly he watched Mirai’s face. That is, watched his face turn crimson. Gohan laughed, plucking the picture from his hands and pulling him in for a kiss.

“Wait,” Mirai said as he pulled back.

“No, I don’t think we should” Gohan responded.

Mirai’s eyes got very serious as they held each other close in his mother’s closet…

“That’s a big step Gohan.”

“I know, but I don’t see any reason against it – I want to, and I’m pretty sure you want to too; after everything we’ve been through, in this world and the next, we’d have to be crazy not to go for it right now while we’ve got the chance.”

“I know, I agree with all of that, I just want to make sure you aren’t going to regret it later” Mirai informed him.

“I won’t, I promise” Gohan smiled as he tucked the picture of them having sex into his back pocket.

“Don’t ‘misplace’ that…” Mirai warned him.

“Oh, no, I’m keeping it safe, I plan on studying it very thoroughly” he joked with a wink, pulling him back into the kiss.

When Mirai pulled him into his room later that night, Gohan already knew how this would end, but this time the journey there was the part he was looking forward to. Only slightly nervous hands caressed him, removed his shirt and stroked his sides. Gohan returned the favor, only slightly nervous himself – it was hard to tell nerves from anticipation at this point. When Mirai unbuckled his pants for him, he felt his stomach literally flutter. They weren’t kissing now, just resting their foreheads against each others’ as they watched the rest of their clothes slide off. They hadn’t had occasion before this to see each other naked, and it stirred both their blood, how many firsts would happen tonight.

Mirai decided to brake the spell, pulling a now erect Gohan to him closely, feeling his own hardened member make delicious contact with Gohan’s stomach. He kissed him gently, lightly running his hands down his muscular back and over his cheeks, squeezing softly. Gohan moaned into his mouth, pushing them back towards the bed at that. Eager could not even begin to describe the look in Gohan’s eyes, and Mirai knew that there would be no regret there. He pulled him down and began kissing every inch of his neck and shoulders, incredibly pleased with the sounds that escaped him as he went. Gohan massaged his back and wrapped his legs around Mirai’s, rubbing their hips and everything between together.

“Oh God” Mirai paused his kissing as their erections made contact together while grinding.

“You know what I want” Gohan said as he used his hands on Mirai’s ass to keep them pressed tightly together.

“Ok Gohan… Damn you’re so hot” he said as he pushed a quickly slicked finger into him, watching the reaction on his face. He firmly grasped and then stroked Gohan in his hand as he teased and stretched his ass. Gohan panted as he moaned beneath him. Mirai’s fingers found that special spot deep within him, and he gave an actual shout of pleasure. Precum was leaking down over his fingers now, and he couldn’t resist getting a taste of this incredible man. He leaned down, never removing his fingers or hand, and licked the head of Gohan’s penis, like a cat would clean it’s fur, wide and firm. Gohan’s orgasm spattered across his face, but he didn’t pull back, instead taking him into his mouth as he came, swallowing every drop he could while Gohan turned his name into a cry and plea.

“Fuck” Gohan said when he was done.

“Not quite” Mirai chuckled as he wiped the last of Gohan from his face and used it to slick himself, adding a little lube just to be safe.
Watching Mirai slide into him a moment later was hot enough to make him start getting hard again. There was some pain, yes, but he bore it to get to watch the look on his lover’s face.

“You tell me when you’re ready” Mirai whispered into his neck, waiting for him to adjust to the intrusion. Gohan tentatively moved his hips as the pain began to recede, finding a warm, incredibly nice sensation replaced it.

“I’m ready” he whispered back, letting the man above him have full control of his body. Mirai slid slowly in and out of him a few more times, just to make sure, and Gohan gave a little “unf” every time he hit home. A smile crept over Mirai’s face, watching him squirm beneath him. As he picked up the pace, Gohan’s panting became out right gasps, no sensation like this had ever been felt by the man before. The little shock of pleasure that accompanied Mirai’s head sinking all the way into him was building faster and faster, and the repeated slap of him thrusting into him was almost as loud as his own cries. The pleasure was a continual thread now, twisting through his stomach and up his spine.

“Trunks, Trunks, I’m going to come again, Fuck!” he panted loudly.

“It’s ok, I’m ready too” he said with a kiss as he pulled Gohan's legs up a little higher and went for broke.

“God. Fuck. Aaaaha, Trunks!” he groaned and then came again loudly. Milky white fluid coated Gohan’s stomach as Mirai gave in to the spasming muscles around him.

“Gohan… Gohan, Gohan!” he called his name a series of times, then ended his final thrust and collapsed on his chest.

A few months later, Gohan was unpacking the last of the boxes that belonged in the living room, when Mirai came up behind him and hugged him tightly from behind.

“Hey, I’ve got a surprise for you – you should let this be and go get dressed” he whispered conspiratorially. Gohan laughed and set down the random knick knack Bulma had given them, he loved Mirai’s surprises…

“Ok, anything specific I should wear for our outing?” he asked.

“It’s on the bed” Mirai smiled. He was already dressed in a nice tuxedo himself, with all the trimmings, even golden Capsule Corp cufflinks, so Gohan guessed his outfit was probably just a slightly different version of that. When he came back out, he looked ready for an evening of dancing on the Titanic.

“This must be one fancy place” he said.

“Yes, you look amazing, by the way” Mirai answered him, dropping the knick knack he had been playing with back on the pile, “Alright, everyone’s waiting, so let’s get going” he finished with a grin.

Unbeknownst to him, that pile contained a most unusual camera in it, and the weight of the falling object was just enough to depress the shutter button one last time, snapping a shot of their apartment’s front door.

After the door closed behind them, an old man in a Hawaiian shirt reached over and pulled out the photo, laughing to himself as he looked at it.

Master Roshi: “Well, even I could have predicted that one” he chuckled, tossing the photo of Mirai carrying Gohan across the threshold onto the counter as he left.

The End